SCRAP as only Portland can!

Last weekend we found a great little treasure in Portland...SCRAP.  SCRAP stands for School & Community Reuse Action Project.  It is a non-profit that collects clean, reuseable materials and organizes them in their shop for resale.  You can come in and join a workshop where you work in their space or you can just shop.

The stuff they have is pretty amazing.  There are tons of fabric scraps, yarn, half-used bottles of paint, glitter, and glue, velcro pieces, magnets, greeting cards, and electronic components.  My favorite was actually a box of photos that people had taken of celebrities and athletes autographing stuff.  No joke!  You could buy a picture some random person took of a random famous person signing their name.  If you wanted more than just one, you could have a whole box full!  This is why I love Portland!!!

My kids had a great time.  I gave them each $2 and they spent 2 hours pouring over the items trying to make a great purchasing decision. They grabbed things then found other things.  They put stuff back and went back for more.  In the end, we paid about $8 and I found stuff for my entire high school class to use to make hoover crafts and my kids each ended up with about 3 "creations" worth of stuff.  We were all very satisfied and spent the rest of the afternoon inventing at the kitchen table.

SCRAP is located at the corner of MLK and Scranton in NE Portland.  Their phone number is 503-294-0769 and they are open daily from 11 am until 6 pm.  There are all sorts of events and functions offered there ranging from adult-only events to kids summer camps.  Check out SCRAP's website for more details.